Kronos
by critiqu
Summary: Clockwork's all knowing sight as always been some what of a curse, but one he has learned to live with. Lately his curse has been lifting, ever so slightly...but only around the one being he is supposed to be watching and of course his sight only fails right before he will need it the most. Oneshot turned Threeshot. Foreshadow of coming story 'Keepers'. Can be read separately
1. Kronos

_Kronos_

I sighed as the moment came where my grandchild and her allies entered my tower. Sometimes I really hated knowing when everything was going to happen. Purposely keeping my back to them as they entered warily, I tried to appear non-threatening, though I already knew that it would do no good. They, on the other hand, each moved into a position to attack if necessary.

"I will be with you in a minute," I said, eyes unmoving from the mirror. The same scene flashed on my screen over and over again, but each time it differed ever-so-slightly. It was tedious work, but small pushes were so much more effective at keeping the timeline on course as opposed to large acts of force. If only I had known that in the beginning.

Finding the version that would lead to the most desired outcome, I quickly set off the chain of events that would lead to it and turned to face my guests. The whole search did not last more than a few seconds.

Keeping a blank face as my eyes roamed over the Justice League one at a time: Princess Diana, child of my successor, Zeus. Kal El, the deathless Kryptonian. Batman, born from his parents' blood. The speeding idiot Flash, who completely destroyed my timeline. Green Lantern, or one of them anyway. And finally, the 'last' martian. They stood just as I knew they would, just where I knew they would stand. Stances firm, ready for action, with weapons drawn or hands resting on them at the very least.

Princess Diana spoke first, voice uncharacteristically harsh. "You have some explaining to do Kro-."

"Clockwork, if you will ma'am." The temperance lord cut in.

Everyone frowned but I didn't care, I hated that name almost as much as they hated me.

"Very well Clockwork," spat out Diana crossing, her arms, lasso still clenched in her hand. "Your guards have informed us that you have gathered a servant. "

Even though I knew it was coming, I could not stop myself from rolling my eyes and scoffing. "Obviously you have never met the boy if you think he would 'serve' anyone." Turning my once-again blank eyes to the heroes, I elaborated; "The Observants made the boy my responsibility after I tampered with his time stream in a way that displeased them instead of simply killing the 14-year-old like they had ordered me to."

There expressions did not show it, but I knew they were evaluating what I had said, trying to figure out if I was telling the truth and how to react to it. I did not wait for them and shrugged before continuing. "Ever since then, he started coming to me in times of need, or just to get away from the stress of life." My voice became more wistful than I had intended. "He is good company and a good friend."

"You consider him a friend," cut in the Kryptonian.

I nodded. "Though the way I critique him, I sometimes I feel more like his father."

The League exchanged looks then turned back to me as I remained unchanged.

"We would like to speak with him."

I nodded. "I expected as much." Turning in the direction I knew Daniel would enter, I continued. "I foresaw your visit and took the liberty of inviting him."

Not more than two seconds later a black and white blur came speeding at me from the direction I was facing. I could not resist a small smirk as I slowed down time so when he 'tackled' me he was going too slow to so much as sway my form.

"Awww. No fair!" he said arms still wrapped around me in his usual affectionate greeting. I simply patted his head, a small smile on my face.

"Being the master of time has its benefits, Daniel."

Daniel floated up to my level pouting. He looked virtually unchanged since I had last seen him; black hazmat suit, hero insignia on chest, hair a wreck from being blown all over the place, and a mysterious gleam in his eye. Slowly, the teen's face settled into a smile. "How you doin' C?"

Remembering the purpose of this visit, I sighed. "I have been better."

Daniel's aura dimmed slightly and his face became annoyed. "Are those tight-wads still on you about not killing me?"

I nodded. Daniel crossed his arms and 'humphed.' "I really don't like them."

"Most people do not like beings that wish them dead, Daniel."

The boy looked up, still upset but now curious. "What did they do this time?" he prodded

"They brought my past to haunt me." I gestured to the heroes that I knew Daniel had neglected to see as he'd stormed my tower. He always lowered his boundaries here.

Daniel's eyes landed on the heroes and he raised an eyebrow. This was where the different versions of the future split into so many parts. Daniel's reactions have been doing that to my sight more and more often. "Uhhh… Are you guy's lost?" he asked finally after eyeing each up individually

I gave a small chuckle as the false vision's vanished. The ghost boy always seemed to know how to break the ice in any situation.

"No, we are not." Batman's voice cut through the atmosphere.

"Uhhh, okay." Danny looked from them to me. "So, what are a bunch of weirdly-dressed people doing in the Ghost Zone?"

"We are the Justice League," one of the Flash shouted, almost insulted that the boy did not know who they were.

Danny glanced at them, smirking. "Sorry, what is the weirdly-dressed Justice League doing in the Ghost Zone."

I fought back a slight smile. "The Justice League is a group of heroes from another dimension that work together to protect the world and sometimes the universe," I explained, keeping my tone level.

"Ohhh," Danny said turning back to the 'League,' interest now shining in his eyes. "Still, what are you doing in C's tower?"

"We are interrogating … Clockwork," Diana answered, biting at my chosen name.

Danny shot me a slightly worried glance before turning back to his fellow heroes and crossing his arms. "Look, he didn't do anything wrong. His job is to manage the time streams and lead it to the best outcome available for the mass population, and he did. Just because he got creative, instead of offing me, isn't bad. I would think that, as heroes, you would appreciate that."

Danny tilted his head slightly. "And considering how many people he _has_ had to watch die, every second of every day, for millennia, I think he is entitled to cheat a little and save a life here or there. If nothing else, it would keep himself sane."

"Daniel," I said putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face me as I spoke. "They are not here for that. Well, not directly at least." Daniel once again looked confused. I sighed. The time had come to explain, but I was not looking forward to it. Once again, the future splintered into so many possibilities it was impossible for me to know which one he would take.

"Daniel… you remember how I told you I went a little crazy because of my powers." Green Lantern scoffed.

Danny nodded still confused.

I passionately wanted to avoid saying the name. "Do you remember learning about the Greek Titan Kronos in school?"

Danny snorted and crossed his arms once more. "After what you did the last time I failed a history test, what do you think?"

My lips twitched at the memory but did not grow into a full smile. "Daniel, do you remember what his ability was?" I prompted.

Danny shrugged. "He was the ruler of the universe and stuff before Zeus, and the controller of tiiiimmmme…."Danny trailed off and his shoulders slumped. "I am an idiot." He muttered so low that only myself and Superman could hear. A thoughtful look crossed Daniel's face and he gave me a critical glance for a second before speaking. "You weren't kidding about being completely bonkers were yah?"

I chuckled, the tension seeping away from me, the possible futures merging into one and the others disappearing from my sight. "No. If anything, I have downplayed it."

Danny let out a giggle.

"Hold on!" exclaimed Flash one hand on his hip, the other gesturing around. "You're just okay with this?"

Sweet Daniel only shrugged. "Everyone makes mistakes and that was a long time ago."

"He ATE his children alive!" exclaimed Flash.

Danny tilted his head. "Zeus did the same to his pregnant wife and you aren't banging on his door," Daniel smirked. "Which is fun to do, just so you know." Daniel turned to me a bit confused. "Neither of you ever said you were related to each other?" he spoke questioningly.

I shrugged. "We are all still holding grudges so it is easier to just not engage with one another."

I could tell from Daniel's eyes that he was plotting something. It was frightening because my sight seemed to be failing me. I did not worry too much about my new-found blindness though. Daniel's future had always been a bit harder to decipher than most, which was why it took me so long to act on the dark phantom. In hopes of distracting the boy's no-doubt 'evil' scheming, I gestured to my other guests. Seeing how the others were not impressed, Danny rolled his eyes and spoke again. "Look, that was, like, thousands of years ago. People change, people make mistakes. Especially if they are young and going through a rough time."

He glanced at me and smirked. "Besides. He hasn't eaten me yet, and considering how much I bug him, that is quite an achievement."

I gave Daniel a playful glare, a smile on my lips. "You're too skinny to make a decent meal."

Competition sparked in Daniel's eyes and he grinned, turning fully towards me. "Oh, but babies are?" he said teasingly.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you ever seen a baby god?"

Daniel gave a small frown. "No."

"Take my word for it. They have more meat on them than you." I replied smugly, already knowing I had won our little word battle.

Danny looked contemplative for a few minutes, then shrugged. "I'm okay with that. Fewer crazy old men chasing after me, the better." Danny gave an eye roll and replied seriously, "I get enough of that as it is."

The smile vanished from my face and I stared at Daniel, deep in thought. I am not sure how long I mused internally, but it must have been a while because suddenly Daniel was snapping his fingers in my face. I jumped back to the present, part of my mind still going through what had just happened.

"Sorry." I choked out, no doubt a strange look on my face as I turned away from my ward. "Daniel why don't you go read in the library? I am sure the Justice League is going to want to interrogate you separately from me."

Daniel stared at me with a confused look before brushing the weirdness off like the pro he was. Lazily he flew out of the main room shouting back that he would be on the second floor studying.

The second Daniel left, I skillfully ignored my guests and turned toward my screen. Eyes zeroing in on something I could not see.

"What was that?" Martian manhunter asked one of his companions

I already knew Superman would shrug during that pause. Batman and Wonder Woman stepped closer. "Why did you look at him like that?" demanded Wonder Woman.

There was a short pause and then Batman's voice. "What is the real reason you saved his life?" I barely glanced over my shoulder before eyes returned to my screen. "Out of all of the people in the world you could have saved, you picked him. Why?" Batman's voice was a bit rough, no doubt thinking of his own lost loved ones.

I sighed and turned back to my interrogators. "Have you heard of the Ancients before?" I said questioningly. They each gave their confirmations and I carried on. "As Temperance Lord and the Keeper of Time, I am one of their members." The heroes did not look too thrilled about that, but I plowed on.

"Over the years, I have been able to find our future members before they grow into their power and join our ranks. That way I am able to help them through the transition and they do not befall insanity like I did." I nodded to where Daniel disappeared. "Daniel is the newest one I have found."

"So, if he is going to be an Ancient, then what is he going to be the keeper of?" demanded Superman.

I sighed. "That is just it." I said turning back to my screens. "I do not know."

"You don't know!"

I shook my head. "I saw him joining us but the image is hazy. Lately whenever Daniel makes any kind of decision, the timeline splinters and frays around him so much that I cannot see which path will be taken or how to corral him toward the desired one."

Turning back to the members I said, "Just now, when we were talking, he said something that I have never foreseen him saying." I met the individuals' eyes one at a time. "I see everything, every possible outcome, every possible thing that could be and has been. But I have never heard him say that in any versions."

The room fell quiet.

"What does that mean?" asked the Flash

I turned back to my screen. "I think his powers are emerging at a much faster rate than I suspected. His abilities must be tampering with my sight. When I look, I can only see bits and pieces of Daniel's future and then nothing. He disappears from my sight all together."

The League members exchanged looks.

"Have you told him this?"

The former Kronos shook his head. "I thought I had more time; it is a lot to take in for one his age. Besides, the Zone knows very little about the Ancients. Here they are only thought of as very powerful specters that have long since gone."

"You should tell him," demanded Lantern. "At least explain what an Ancient really is. You are supposed to prepare him for what will happen to him."

I raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you will allow me to?" I inquired.

The heroes exchanged looks. "We have to talk to your guards and Daniel, but if what you say about the boy becoming an Ancient is true..." Superman turned back to me. "The last thing we need is another ultra-powered being causing a mess. It would be best if you could help and guide him."

I gave a nod. "With my foresight out of commission I cannot guarantee success." The heroes opened their mouths, but I cut them off. "However, if need be I will enlist the other Ancients' help. I will see to it that everything is done to help Daniel's transition." My eyes were drawn to the exit where Daniel had fled. I could not help but be worried any more than I could help that the boy had long-since become a soft spot for me.

"You really care about him don't you." I turned back to the critically-looking heroes.

I nodded. "Daniel has a unique way of achieving the impossible," I said, glancing once more at the door before turning back to my screens. "Especially when it's working his way into people's hearts."

After that, the heroes split. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern watched me, Flash and Superman spoke to Daniel, and the Batman and the last Martian interrogated the Observants. I smiled. The last team would finally uncover what my 'guards' were actually doing with the power my children had given them. Flash and the last son of Krypton would be caught in Daniel's charm like everyone who took the time to know him.

I frowned. The only problem was that Diana and Lantern still did not trust me and insisted on standing by my side as I worked. Learning my lesson from the Observants (they received that name after spying over my shoulder so much), I made sure to keep my attention on little things that had nothing to do with the heroes.

 **-)(-**

 **Re edited 5/2/17**

 **Quick Note: apparently some people found this a bit confusing so just so everyone understands;**

 **In some stories Wonder Woman is the Daughter of the Greek god Zeus. Zeus's Dad was Crazy Titan named Kronos that controlled time. So that is how Wonder Woman is Clockwork's grand daughter.**

 **The Gods get word from the Observants that there good old Dad is 'causing trouble'(sometime after 'Ultimate enemy') and send Wonder Woman, who recruits the Justice League, as backup to get 'Kronos' back under control.**

 **The rest is just Greek mythology that can easily be googled**

 **-I do not own 'Danny Phantom' or the 'Justice League'**


	2. Interrogate

_Interrogate_

"This is taking so long...if I was not afraid of getting lost in this wonky place without your super-xray-vision, I would be talking with the kid right now," whined Flash.

I was actually grateful for the slight change in conversation topic. The scarlet-speedster had been constantly reminding me of everything that defied the laws of physics in this dimension since we entered the eerie realm. Furniture clung to the walls and ceiling or floated on its own like it was perfectly natural; hallways went straight up-and-down. I flat-out refused to even talk about the world in which the tower resided. Not to mention the fact that there was no way all of this could fit inside the structure…. it was enough to boggle anyone's mind.

"Why would this be called the second level?" asked Flash as we came to the door of the library. He asked this only after he had ranted about every single impossible thing around us as we had followed the directions provided by the ghost of Kronos. Normal people wouldn't mind, but normal people couldn't understand him when he spoke twenty words per second.

"I don't know Flash. Just like I don't know why the walls seem to have their own gravitational pull." Pushing the large oak double doors open, we walked into the largest library I have ever seen, and I had been to other planets and dimensions. Our floor was filled with oak book shelves that stretched on for what felt like miles in each direction. Some shelves stayed shorter, only about 11 feet tall. Others stretched high above our heads, resembling skyscrapers. Multiple landings circled these shelves in 11-foot intervals. The landings held sofas, desks and other sitting-area essentials; catwalks and bridges connected the multiple landings. On my left I spotted some stairs going up to the lowest landing nearest to us. We both stood stunned for a good second "…Maybe that is what he meant when he said second level," I mused.

Flash shot me a glare before speeding ahead. Shrugging, I flew after him. In the span of three seconds, we located the teenager for which we were searching. He had moved a large armchair up to one of the desks. The desk was covered with scattered papers, notebooks, and textbooks as the boy worked rather diligently on something he probably didn't care about. Somehow this child managed to be a mesh of unnatural wrongness and comforting familiarity. His brighter-than-snow hair was naturally messy, his toxic-neon eyes literally glowed in a kind and gentle way, and even though his entire body was lit up with the harsh cold color of an L.E.D. lightbulb, it was subtle enough to remind one of a nightlight or the moon. His black clothes probably helped diminish his glow. They seemed to tone down the natural whiteness so his glowing only illuminated and emphasized his childlike features.

"Whoa!" Daniel exclaimed when we came to a stop on either side of him. Pushing his chair back too fast, he sent both himself and the chair tumbling onto the floor… where the teen fell flawlessly into a tuck-and-roll, jumping up to face us in a defensive stance with hands literally a-glow in neon green energy that matched his glowing green eyes. Neither Flash nor myself moved. Slowly the boy took in our forms and calmed down from his adrenalin rush. "Don't do that!" the boy said, his strange energy fading before he placed a hand over his heart and breathed deeply.

"Sorry," I said, smiling apologetically. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Nice form, though," Flash commented, at-ease. He was very much used to startling people by his sudden appearance.

Daniel let out one last breath before shaking himself, straightening, and throwing us both friendly smiles. Nothing kept him down for long, it seemed. "Thanks. Just uh-" the ghost boy gestured at his homework splayed out on the table where he had been sitting. "Let me tuck this away and we can get started." As the boy picked up his schoolwork, Flash and myself hunted up our own chairs.

"So, did C tell you what that look he gave me was about?" the boy said with a knowing smirk as he stuffed his papers and books into his backpack with no care whatsoever. I grimaced at the reminder of our conversations with Kronos earlier. Danny no doubt meant for the question to break the ice; sadly, it had the opposite effect. Daniel's face faded into one of astonishment, he must have caught our reactions. "Wait, I was kidding. He actually told you!"

"Why don't we stay on track here." I said, trying to sound commanding and not awkward, which is a bit difficult to do when one is holding a rather large and awkward-to-carry chair.

The boy pouted and gave me a small glare. His mood didn't stay, though, and white bangs swung over his face as he nodded. Done finding his own chair, Flash reached down to tip Danny's chair back into place. Daniel blushed slightly, throwing the last of his homework in his bag with a shove. "Thanks...ah...sorry about overreacting." he said a bit bashful. "You'd think I would be used to it, with ghosts popping up at all hours of the day but usually I get at least a little warning." The teen paused in thought, not sitting down just yet. "Or maybe that's why I am so jumpy; random ambushes do that to a person."

"You get attacked?" I asked frowned, concerned.

The boy shrugged. "All the time. Literally, all the time." The boy's carefree face suddenly became serious. "Word of advice: never let your enemies know where you live." Flash and I stared at the boy with steadily-growing horror. Smiling like all was right in the world, the young ghost held out his hand. "Danny Phantom, by the way."

"I am the Flash, this here is Superman," Flash answered, recovering first. Taking the boy's hand, he said "And what is this about people attacking you?"

Danny's smile never wavered. "Flash and Superman, huh? I guess obvious and generic names are normal among superheroes." Danny waved his hand. "It's nothing. Just a bunch of boring psychos with nothing better to do then sneak up on and jump me." Flopping down into his previously-vacant armchair, his grin stayed strong. "They're pretty cool half of time. They really just bother me as a way to let off steam."

Oddly enough this did not comfort me at all. Danny seemed to see this and his shoulders slumped and his eyes softened. "It's just the way things are between ghosts." He shrugged. "We fight, physically, but no one is really trying to kill me, or anyone for that matter. It is just how they have fun. And I am more than capable of taking care of myself." Danny powered on before either of us could get a word in. "I have been fighting them off for over a year now. I have it handled."

"You're a kid, you should be-"

"And I am," Danny cut me off. "I haven't given up my childhood just yet," Danny smiled. "Maybe I'm not as much of a kid as you would like but too much has changed; I have changed. I can't go back and I don't want to." Danny moved to lounge in his chair sideways, feet and head hanging off the arms of the chair. "I'm happy. So, let it go."

I knew what Flash was thinking, I was thinking it too. When Danny's power came in, his real power, it would be next to impossible for him to live anything close to a normal life. He should be living that now and treasuring every second of it he could.

"Anyway," Danny pouted in mock seriousness. "Is this really what you came to talk to me about?"

Pulling up our own chairs and settling in, we surrendered to the proper interrogation. "You think of Clockwork as a friend?" I asked, curious.

Danny nodded his head. "Yeah, he's my friend. He's fun to talk to, he always knows everything, even if he doesn't tell me any of it. It is kind of comforting to know that someone is watching and making sure we don't all accidentally destroy reality."

"You trust him?" inquired Flash skeptically.

Danny's face became serious and melancholy as his eyes became faraway. Finally, he answered. "I trust him to do his part to keep the universe running."

"But…?" I asked, prodding for what he had left unspoken.

Danny sighed sadly. "Clockwork's biggest priority is the timestream. When I first started hanging out with him he made it very clear that if something bad had to happen to me, or someone I care about, that would ensure the timestreams survival, he would let it happen, maybe even make it happen." Danny wrapped his arms around himself, giving us a weak smile. "No matter our relationship, no matter feelings or repercussions, the timestream comes first."

Clenching my fists in anger, I spat out. "He-"

"Is right!" Danny cut in with surprising force. Those oddly calming, yet hard green eyes zeroed in on mine. "The timestream is critical. He needs to do his job. No matter the sacrifice, no matter the hardship he _must_ see the big picture and work for the greater good. He can't afford to let personal attachments get in the way. The day that happens is the day everything will fall out of balance and come tumbling down." Danny's eyes drilled into us, his two costume-dressed guests. "And that makes him as much of a hero as you."

My voice was stuck. There was something powerful behind those words, but not quite there yet. A shadow of a scent. Clockwork was right: This boy was on the brink of revealing massive power and, judging by his speech, he was ready for the role of Keeper. Or, at least, he understood the burden connected to it.

"But you still visit him, you are still 'friends'? Even after hearing that?" Flash prodded quietly, incredulously.

Danny's grin became wide almost smirking. "He's fun, I enjoy his company, I like coming here to read, chat, spar or just pester him because I can." Danny shrugged. "Everything comes to an end sometime; if it's going to burn, then it's going to burn. I might as well enjoy what I can, while I can."

Amid my twirling thoughts, I managed a smile. "You're a 'live life to the fullest' kind of guy huh?"

Danny laughed. "Well, losing half of yourself doing something that should have killed you completely, really changes your outlook on things."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Flash nod. Glancing over, his lips were thin, a rare frown of thought on his face. Silently, I thanked God for my blessings. I was born with my abilities: Sure, I was basically stranded on another planet with no one that could possibly understand the burdens I carry-much less myself-with no way of learning about my heritage, but I was raised by a loving family. I had my powers my entire life and had still managed to live a full childhood. Other people were not nearly as lucky. My coworkers went through so much more than I did and still, they held true to themselves and kept to the side of good.

My eyes fell on the teenager, the child, across from us. He was another person that had gone through so much, who was going to go through even more, and he chose to run with the current and revel in it instead of letting it drag him around. People like him, like my colleagues, inspired me to strive to be just as strong one day.

"How did you meet Clockwork?" asked Flash coming out of his somber thoughts and jolting me from mine.

That got a reaction out of the boy. A grimacing nervous smile snaked its way onto his face. As if that was not a big enough omen, Danny felt the need to let out a weak, humorless chuckle. "Well- um-" Danny looking across the library, almost looking for a way out. We waited patiently. Well, I waited patiently and Flash waited as patiently as he could. Danny heaved a sigh and steeled himself, crossing his arms before meeting our eyes.

"A while back, I made a mistake that would have set off a chain of reactions that would have resulted in the end of the world as we know it." Not waiting for me to process this information, he powered on. "For whatever the reason, the Observants decided to get involved and ordered Clockwork to kill me off before I could make the mistake." Danny shrugged. "He didn't, I learned my lesson, and humanity didn't end."

"…What was the mistake?" asked Flash, having absorbed the information at a heightened pace, as well as having a shortened impulse control.

"Cheating on a test," Danny said monotone.

Flash looked dumbfounded. "…Cheating on a test?" I clarified.

Danny gave a defensive glare. "It was an important test, my grades were low, my sister literally broke the record for highest score ever when she took it, and, to top it off, I was still floundering to get a grip on my powers, keep them a secret, and protect my town. I was going to cheat; sue me," Danny exclaimed before slumping and mumbling. "Or you know, kill my family, send me to live with a villain, turn evil and destroy the world." Looking back up at us with little interest, despite our ever-growing shocked expressions, he kept talking. "In the end, I retook the test later and everyone lived, even evil, cheating me from the-future-that-never-actually-happened."

"...Wha.."

"Wanna hear about the time my Dad accidentally teleported my entire house into another dimension?"

Flash and I blinked mutely

-0-

Flash and I dragged our feet on the trip back to the head room.

"He's-"

"Yeah," I replied, voice choking.

That boy...that boy was something special. From the sounds of it, he had not had a normal day in his life. He faced hardships at every turn with a smile on his face and a witty remark on his lips. He wasn't afraid to get down and dirty to get the job done, but he never gave up his soul.

Seeing such a strong and ethically-stable teenager gave me hope. Hope for other teens going through problems. Hope for a family. Hope for the future. But it also made me sad, so incredibly sad.

"I don't want that kid to become an Ancient, Supes," Flash said, uncharacteristically solemn.

I took a deep breath. "Me neither," I replied heftily. "But he was right." I caught Flash's eyes. "The job is more important. Whatever he will be the Keeper of, he'll be great at it."

Flash looked down and we fell silent. "But at what cost?" Flash asked quietly

I gritted my teeth, steeling myself. That was the question. What would that kind of power do to that boy? How would the price of that power affect the child we had just met? The worst part was that there was nothing we could do about it. The power was going to come whether he joined the Ancients or not. There was nothing-absolutely nothing-we could do. Even if we could, we shouldn't...this had to happen. For the world to turn, for the sun to rise, for life to exist, this child needed to gain his power.

Suddenly Clockwork's lie made a lot more sense. He knew Danny's power was coming in. He probably knew from the moment they met and he hadn't acted on it, not out of secrecy, or malicious intent. He just wanted to hold off the inevitable for a little bit longer, hold on to this beautiful child a little bit longer.

My thoughts went back to Lois and the baby she so badly wanted. Would our child have to go through something like this? Was this what my parents went through when I decided to become a hero? The more I thought about it the more a single fact became clear: I could never be an Ancient.

 **-)(-**

 **Okay so that happened. I honestly was not planning on writing that scene until 'Dash master 48' asked me to, so you can thank them for this. I have been pondering on this story and I have decided that 'Kronos' is going to be more of a foreshadowing for 'Keeper' (the story of Danny's transition into a Keeper). I also think that in order for 'Keeper' to go the way I want it to, it has to be just in the Danny Phantom universe. Maybe I could do a sequel with a bit of Justice League but one thing at a time.**

 **Right now, I am going to keep this story short. I kind of want to do one more chapter but then I want to focus on 'Keeper'.**

- **Edited 5/8/2017**

 **\- I do not own 'Danny Phantom' or the 'Justice League'.**


	3. Guards

_Guards_

Clark was rubbing off on me. I realized this when I caught myself counting my blessings, very much like a certain Kryptonian I knew. We were several hours into a tour of a facility that seemed to have no organization whatsoever. If that was not annoying enough, our guide was a genderless 'thing' that seemed to be made up of nothing but an eyeball and clothes, with one of the largest egos I had ever had the _pleasure_ of witnessing. The biggest sign that this situation was wearing me down was the fact that I had resorted to take a leaf out of the book of an optimistic alien farmboy.

'Is that a bad thing?' inquired J'ohn through our mind link. I was never a fan of his telepathy, but half an hour after we arrived at our destination I found myself counting it as one of my 'blessings'.

'As long as I don't start adding bright colors to my suit it should be fine,' I replied back sarcastically.

An amused J'ohn sent me an image of myself, focusing on the recently-added yellow of the bat symbol on my chest. I decided to ignore that and focused instead on our 'guide'.

"-and this is the main archives," the Observant exclaimed, clear excitement in its voice. Where the voice came from, I was unsure; it had no mouth that I could see. In fact, all I could see of it was an oversized eye. It appeared to have a humanoid body if the rich-looking robes were anything to go by, but it didn't seem to have feet, so I wasn't sure if there was anything at all underneath those clothes. The Observant floated just above our eye level. "It is where we store all of the information we record."

The Observants were, in a word, unexpected. I sent a reminder of our ride here with a hint of confusion and suspicion, to J'ohn. Diana had spent the entire trip prepping all of us on Greek mythology and how it applied into real life. She had gone into great detail about how horrible Kronos was, how long the battle to defeat him took, and, of course, the severity of what would happen if he escaped. When we arrived at our destination, we had expected to find a heavily-guarded prison. Instead we found a virtually empty Clock tower, with the ghost of a long-dead Titan calmly fulfilling his purpose. He made no threatening moves towards us, answered all of our questions, and even allowed us to interview his ward separately from himself, which is something I certainly would not feel comfortable doing.

I pushed my thoughts on the boy aside; now was not the time to reflect on that. Furthermore he was not my job. My job was to interrogate the Observants, and try to figure out why in the world they would leave someone like Kronos unguarded.

Diana had told us of who they were. I, of course, knew the story of Argus the one-hundred-eyed giant. He guarded Hestia's sacred garden and, through a series of unfortunate events, was cut into pieces by the god Hermes. When the giant died, it came here to the immortal graveyard and, instead of piecing himself back together, each eyeball became a new central creature. These new Observants sent word to the gods and asked for assistance so they could keep their immortal enemies in the graveyard. The gods promptly agreed, sending power to the beings and a list of people to watch for...Kronos being on the top of said list. Obviously that power was not being used the way the gods had intended.

"This is the control room. This is where we control the drifting of the providences in the infinite realm. After the High Ghost King Pariah Dark was locked away it was the only way to ensure the other providence's cooperation to our rules."

"Why would you need to control where the land drifts?" asks J'ohn.

"Someone has to keep the providences from smashing into each other, not to mention some places do not get along with others and really should be kept separate as a result."

"So you blackmail them?" I say, monotone. "Either they accept you as their rulers or you crash their home into something, most likely killing everyone involved."

"No, of course not."

'I don't need a face to read, to be able to tell that that was a lie,' I commented to J'ohn.

Promptly changing the subject, the Observant continued our tour. We waited some time before pressing again. J'ohn took on asking the innocent questions, while mine always had a hard bite to them.

"Why was the Temperance Master's dwelling unguarded?" inquired J'ohn.

"It was part of the deal."

"What deal?" I demanded.

"The deal to overthrow High King Pariah Dark," said the Observant as if we were idiots. I did not appreciate the tone.

"Kronos was behind that?" inquired J'ohn. From what we had gathered, the King was not a pleasant one but we had long-since decided to not trust the Observant's words at face value.

"Not alone, we had him enlist some of the Ancients. They managed to strip him of his power and lock him away, thus freeing all ghosts of his cruel rule."

'So they could fall under yours, J'ohn concluded mentaly. I could feel the bitterness and anger raging behind the words. Oppression was always something the Martian hated above all else, and for good reason.

I, on the other hand, was more caught up with how they had enlisted the Ancients' help. No matter how powerful this High King of ghosts was, I find it hard to believe that it would require multiple Ancients to stop him. Which begged the question of why the incredibly passive and secretive group exposed themselves to fight someone they would not have had to.

'Unless it was a show of support,' I threw the idea at J'ohn. I was used to throwing ideas at people, whether it was Robin or Alfred; sometimes it just helped me think.

'I can't see them supporting the Observants,' J'ohn replied with a mental scoff. 'Maybe Kronos? If the Observants gave him more freedom in exchange for Pariah's fall, they could have been supporting him.'

'And if the Ancients support Clockwork, then he must have at least some credibility.'

'He has remained virtually free for a very long time without causing any trouble for the Olympians… Or is it all a trick to gain freedom?'

'That would be well over two thousand years of pretending, which even to a Titan would be a long time," I replied back. "I am beginning to wonder if perhaps Danny was right. Maybe Clockwork has changed.'

We pondered on that vein of thought for a time, before I recalled the reason we were here in the first place. Sending the idea to J'ohn, he agreed to ask for me. We had a system going after all; this question may be best asked by the good cop.

"You called us pertaining to one Danny Phantom? What is the Problem he possesses?"

"Yes," practically spat the Observant in distaste. "We were doing our regular checkup of the time stream to ensure Clockwork was doing everything right." I fought back a twitch in my eye at the 'higher-than-everyone' tone. "-only to discover Armageddon upon us." The Observant proclaimed dramatically. "Naturally we took action immediately, and narrowed the event back to one action done by one Danny Phantom."

"And you ordered Clockwork to kill him?" I asked, injecting a slight accusing tone but mostly keeping my voice blank.

As predicted the underlying tone went right over the eyeball's metaphorical head and they powered through. "It was the best option, after all this is Armageddon; we need to make sure that it never happens."

J'ohn and I flashed images of our own armageddons, all of which we had averted...some more flawlessly than others. If there was one thing I had learned during my time with the Justice League, it was that Armageddon was always upon us; it was an endless battle. If the Observants went around killing every person who caused the apocalypse, at least one third of the world's population would perish.

"So Clockwork did not obey your orders but he did act. Is Armageddon still on the horizon?"

"No," the observant said blandly. "But it could, every second that boy remains alive is another second he could end our existence," the Observant insisted and I could feel J'ohn barely retain a flinch. Just because someone had the power to do something doesn't mean they would. It was something every Leaguer faced and something that all members disliked. Add the fact that Danny was destined to become an Ancient, and he couldn't be killed because that would definitely get the apocalypse rolling. Obviously Clockwork had not told his guards this.

'I don't blame him,' commented J'ohn and I whole-heartedly agreed.

As normal, the Observant powered on, completely oblivious. "And now the boy breaks in and conspires with Clockwork. You see the severity of our situation?" it stated, not even turning to look at us. "We need to put an end to this before whatever those two have planned comes to pass."

"If I recall," I cut in, "the gods gave you more than enough power to keep someone as powerful as Kronos contained. Why can you not use that power to keep the boy away?" If what Clockwork said was true then it would be a disaster to do so, but I wanted to know what they would say.

"Oh, we have more important things to worry about," replied the Observant, waving its hand at us dismissively. The Martian and I shared a look before trudging on to liaison about all the good the Observants had done since taking rule over the immortal graveyard.

-0-

"They were going to kill Danny for cheating on a test!?" Flash all but screamed when we told the others of our stay at the Observant's lair. We had all met up in an abandoned room in Clockwork's tower so we could talk in private. Personally, I didn't see the point. Clockwork and Danny Phantom were probably watching us as we spoke through the Time Keeper's mirrors.

"Cheating on a test?" I demanded.

Superman sighed. "Danny said that originally, he set off a catastrophic chain of events that ended in world-wide annihilation. The first chain was him cheating on a test." My scowl deepened: and here I had thought nothing could make me hate the Observants more. I hated being wrong.

"It is incredibly obvious that the Observants are not watching Clockwork at all," J'ohn spoke, even his voice was trembling slightly from underlying rage. "They have been using the power your father gave them to conquer and rule this realm," he explained to Diana.

Flash shorted, "Well they are doing a terrible job of it." Once again attention returned to the two red warring metas.

Superman nodded, "Danny told us that the infinite realms is basically a lawless and chaotic land. The only places with solid governments are the providences, but even then they have to face constant attacks from barbarians or neighboring kingdoms. No one dares travel in the empty spaces of no man's land unless they have some kind of guard."

"Some warden tried to lock him up for 1000 years for breaking one of his rules. Rule, not law. A random ghost is trying to skin him and hang it on his wall, because he is, apparently, an endangered species. Not to mention the thousands of ghosts that he is forced to fight when they escape into his town in an attempt to take over the world." Flash threw in for good measure, "And odds are, not much will be done about it."

I broke in and explained, "the Observants have let the power and what they perceive as complete control go to their heads. They believe themselves able to do no wrong. Fixing any of those would be admitting otherwise."

"Back onto point!" cut in Diana turning to J'ohn. "You said they have not been watching Kronos, what does that mean?"

"It means that the Temperance Lord has been managing himself. Doing his job virtually unsupervised for at least a thousand years now."

"And in that time, he never once made a move against Olympus or any of the worlds... that we know of," batman responded.

"You think we should remove his guards altogether?" inquired Green Lantern skeptically.

"I think that they are not doing their job. I think they have abused their power for political gain. I think they have proven themselves untrustworthy."

Turning I locked eyes with Diana. "While the former Kronos seemed to have earned it."

Diana frowned. "You really think Kronos has changed?"

"I think that if the Observants can go from mighty warrior guards to greedy politicians, then mighty, heartless Kronos can become docile," I stated bluntly

"Especially if someone like Danny is hanging out with him," Flash butted in.

Diana still looked conflicted.

"If you are still worried, we can come check on him from time to time," J'ohn said, no doubt reading her mind. "It would still be more than what the Observants are doing now."

The princess sighed but nodded. "If you believe he has become peaceful, then I will heed your words."

-0-

Our team lugged toward the Javelin. Young Danny Phantom waved merrily where he stood beside his friend, the former Kronos now Clockwork. Several of the members waved back before entering the hull. Fiddling with the controls, I overheard Superman ask Wonder Woman when she was planning to return to check on the ghost.

"I am not certain, Kal." The amazon said, troubled. "It depends on how the gods feel about this development…Why do you wish to join me?"

I glanced back just in time to see the tormented face that Clark exchanged with Flash.

"Maybe," he said.

"What is it?" I demanded in my softer tone. Kal caught my eye.

"I am worried about Danny," the Kryptonian replied. Looking out across the green swirling scenery. "He is a good kid."

"Are you afraid Kronos will corrupt him?" asked Diana.

"No." Superman replied. "I am worried about how becoming an Ancient will change him."

We all fell silent.

"He is a good kid," Superman said, breaking the silence. "There are not enough of those around."

Flash nodded. "The world needs more Dannys."

 **-)(-**

 **T** **he continuation of this story ( _Keeper_ ) has been uploaded. It does not feature the Justice league but focuses on Danny's journey with his powers.**

 **Phew! Thank you 'Percy Jackson' for teaching me Greek mythology. Honestly, I can't believe how perfectly that all lined up. I swear this story has a mind of its own. Not that I am complaining if it helps me finish this.**

 **Thanks to those that found errors, and informed me of them. I am dyslexic, so sometimes I just cannot see things until you point them out. I really appreciate you doing so when I don't catch them. That being said, I have learned my lesson. I've found some wonderful people that can edit my stories but it may take longer to get them posted. So, now you know.**

 **-I do not own 'Danny Phantom' or the 'Justice League'.**


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